Different Roads

“Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle.”

—George R.R. Martin

The works in this anthology reflect both the myth and the truth about the part of the United States we call the “West.” Is there one “true” West? Or have the changes that are overwhelming most of the rest of the country so modified the West that there is little commonality? The editors of Different Roads believe, with Stephen R. Covey, that our “strength lies in differences, not in similarities” and are constantly amazed by what Stanley Baldwin calls “the many-sidedness of truth.” Many sides of the truth of the West are represented in the anthology. Is everything here absolutely the truth? The reader must decide.

Topics included in this collection of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction range from the West’s diversity of landscape, people, languages, attitudes and history to discussions of water issues, wildfires, antiquities and a broad range of environmental concerns.

Different Roads is the third volume in Western Press Books’ literary anthology series Manifest West. The press, affiliated with with Western State Colorado University, annually produces one anthology focused on Western regional writing. The 2014 theme is Western diversity and the title Different Roads comes from George R.R. Martin’s quote above.